By 
Grafenia Plc (LON:GRA) shares were up 125% at 9p prompting the company to put out a statement about the share price movement.
Unfortunately, the statement was of the “don’t ask us” type as the company said it knew of no reason for the rise.
Shares in the print shop, supplies and website designer were trading at 9.5p this time a year ago.
2.50pm: Cash shell Plutus PowerGen soars as it appoints joint broker
Plutus PowerGen PLC (LON:PPG), a cash shell listed on AIM, soared 163% to 0.0725p after it announced the appointment of a joint broker.
The company has been a cash shell since it demerged its Plutus Energy business late last year.
Under AIM’s rules, it will have to make an acquisition by April 10, otherwise trading in its shares will be suspended. If it has not made an acquisition by December 10 – the anniversary of its listing on AIM after its capital reorganisation – its listing will be cancelled.
1.55pm: River and Mercantile higher after fund management legend Martin Gilbert joins the board
River and Mercantile Group PLC (LON:RIV) rose 10% to 203p after Martin Gilbert, the co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management, joined its board.
Gilbert will join as deputy chairman.
“Martin has had an exceptionally distinguished career in asset management as one of the founders and Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management. He brings huge experience of the sector to RMG and we all look forward to working with him to develop RMG into a substantial growth business,” said Jonathan Dawson, the chairman of River and Mercantile Group (RMG).
Aberdeen founder Martin Gilbert lines up another directorship https://t.co/jEUT5f6PIN pic.twitter.com/4aQktRHKqx
— Hedge Fund Focus (@hedgefundfocus) January 7, 2021
1.00pm: Investors sit up and beg for Pets at Home shares
Pets at Home Group PLC (LON:PETS), up 6.6% at 445p, was the top riser on the FTSE 250 after it raised its full-year profit expectations.
The pet products retailer estimates full-year underlying pre-tax profit, including the previously announced repayment of business rates relief of £28.9mln, will be at least £77mln.
Last month, the FTSE 250 group said it would take a profit hit of £35mln on profit expectations of £93.5mln as it would no longer be able to offset coronavirus (COVID-19) specific costs and restrictions against the relief.
12.05pm: Tremor in earth-shaking second-half performance
Tremor International Ltd (LON:TRMR) climbed 13% to 424p after it said its performance in the second half of 2020 exceeded expectations.
The video advertising technologies company said it expects trading for 2020 will be ahead of previous guidance.
The company now expects revenues of US$404-408mln, compared to previous guidance of US$390-400mln, and adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) ofUS$ 58-60mln, versus US$50-52mln previously.
The board and management of Tremor believe that the growth demonstrated in the second half of 2020 is set to continue through 2021, despite the ongoing uncertainty and impacts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
11.05am: Malvern International higher after securing a short-term loan
Malvern International PLC (LON:MLVN), the learning and skill development specialist, rose 15% to 0.15p after it agreed on a new short-term loan facility.
The £350,000 loan has been provided by Boost & Co, while a further £30,000 has been lent to the company by a director.
The purpose of this new borrowing is to provide bridging finance to ensure the company has sufficient working capital pending the payment of a significant trade debtor amounting to more than £900,000, which is expected to be paid in the first quarter of this year.
10.10am: Reach surges as digital revenue growth picks up
Reach PLC (LON:RCH) has taken over as London’s top-performing share, up 25% at 219.5p, after it raised full-year profit guidance.
The owner of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers said it now expects its 2020 operating profit to be “ahead of market expectations” following a record performance for its digital business in the fourth quarter.
The new guidance is for operating profit to be between £130mln and £135mln after the newspapers group saw revenues from its digital division surge 24.9% in the final quarter of its fiscal year, up from growth of 13.4% in the third quarter.
9.15am: Baron Oil boosted by Chuditch update
Baron Oil PLC (LON:BOIL), 25% higher at 0.1p, was London’s top riser on Friday morning after updating on its Chuditch production sharing contract (PSC).
As a result of the time lost while attempting to resolve various data access and other issues, SundaGas TLS, in which Baron has a 33.3% stake, has requested a minimum 12-month extension to the current, initial licence phase of Chuditch,
The additional time is essential to complete the agreed work programme, in particular the vital 3D seismic reprocessing, to allow a timely drilling decision to be made, Barron told shareholders.
EQTEC PLC (LON:EQT) advanced 6.5% to 2.45p after it inked a deal with a Greek construction firm to develop waste gasification projects.
Together with its German engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner ewerGy, EQTEC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Greek construction group Nobilis Pro Energy that provides for the collaborative development of the firm’s pipeline of opportunities in the country.
The energy-from-waste technology firm said the MoU will allow the firms to work together to deliver advanced gasification projects in the Nobilis pipeline, starting with a 0.9-megawatt electric gasification plant in the town of Almyros.
Proactive news headlines:
Zoetic International PLC (LON:ZOE) said its shares are now trading on the OTCQX Best Market, one of the highest level OTC markets in the US, under the ticker ‘ZOEIF’ after being upgraded from the OTCQB Venture Market. The cannabidiol (CBD) products specialist said the OTCQX market is designed for “established, investor-focused US and international companies” and that graduating to the new market from OTCQB is an “important milestone” and enables firms to build visibility among US investors. Zoetic also said that it is currently evaluating additional opportunities to improve investor relations and communications in North America In addition to the OTCQX trading, the company also revealed it has been included in the UK MSCI Microcap Index.
EQTEC PLC (LON:EQT) said that together with its German engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner ewerGy it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Greek construction group Nobilis Pro Energy which provides for the collaborative development of the firm’s pipeline of opportunities in the country. The energy-from-waste technology firm said the MoU will allow the firms to work together to deliver advanced gasification projects in the Nobilis pipeline, starting with a 0.9-megawatt electric (MWe) gasification plant in the town of Almyros. EQTEC said the collaboration will be underpinned by a joint venture between the firm and everGy which is expected to source and provide funding and delivery capabilities for any projects provided by the Nobilis pipeline.
Walls & Futures REIT PLC (LON:WAFR) saw its net asset value rise to £3.96mln as at the end of September 2020, up from £3.30mln a year earlier The ethical housing investor and developer revealed in its half-year results that rents received in the six months to the end of September rose to £79,023 from £67,650 in the same period of 2019. The loss before tax narrowed to £52,293 from £92,200. The company also said it had sold its leasehold property in Southfields for £660,000 (before costs), a price that represents a 5.7% discount to the property’s valuation as at the end of March 2020.
88 Energy Limited (LON:88E, ASX:88E) said it is set to expand its footprint in Alaska as the group has been named as the high bidder on the Tract 29 area, via the 2021 Coastal Plain Lease Sale. Tract 29 is positioned as a 23,446-acre area adjacent to the company’s Yukon leases. The company described the expansion as “a logical step in the company’s aggregation strategy” in the North Slope region.
ADES International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) said Khaled Hassan has resigned as the group’s chief financial officer. The oil & gas drilling and production services provider said Hassan has decided to step down from his position to pursue a greater role outside of the group, although he will be sticking around for a while to ensure an orderly transition. The board has already begun the search process for a successor and is confident of being able to recruit a high-quality replacement.
Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (LON:COPL) is advancing its deal to acquire Atomic Oil & Gas LLC and said it has achieved two important milestones. The company said it had paid US$8mln as the second payment under the agreement to buy Atomic, which secures it a 15% interest in Atomic’s leases. At the same time, COPL confirmed it had closed an equity issue to raise £3mln which is in addition to a £6mln raise announced at the end of December 2020. The share issue is at the same price and same terms.
Pembridge Resources PLC (LON:PERE) has said it is to raise £570,000 by issuing shares to some existing shareholders and directors at 4p a pop. As well as issuing 14.25mln shares to raise fresh capital, the company has issued 308,793 shares to satisfy a liability. Pembridge chief executive and chairman Gati Al-Jebouri has subscribed for 3mln shares, taking his holding up to 15.4mln shares, which is equivalent to 30.7% of the company’s share capital. The mining company said the money raised will enable it to fund its operations without requiring any additional financing to meet its current operating costs and those related to maintaining a public company.
Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the AIM-listed metals exploration and development company said it has received notices to exercise warrants over 23,090,600 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the company at an exercise price of 1.0p each and the exercise of 5,500,000 warrants at an exercise price of 0.7p each. Subscription monies of £217,156 have been received by Power Metal in respect of these exercises.
Supermarket Income REIT PLC (LON:SUPR), the real estate investment trust providing secure, inflation-protected, long income from grocery property in the UK, said its board has declared an interim dividend in respect of the period from October 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, of 1.465p per ordinary share, payable on or around February 26, 2021. The ex-dividend date will be January 21, 2021, with a record date of January 22, 2021. This dividend will be paid as a Property Income Distribution (PID) in respect of the company’s tax-exempt property rental business. At the group’s annual general meeting held on November 11, 2020, shareholders approved the introduction of a scrip dividend scheme. The scrip dividend alternative price is to be calculated using the average of the closing middle market quotations for an ordinary share for the five consecutive business days commencing on the ex-dividend date and will be announced and detailed on the company’s website on January 28, 2021.
Red Rock Resources PLC (LON:RRR), the natural resource development company with interests in gold, copper, cobalt, manganese, and other minerals has said it will conduct a moderated online question and answer session with chief executive Andrew Bell on Tuesday, January 12, at 7.00pm GMT. Any shareholders or others wishing to attend or submit questions should go to: https://www.bigmarker.com/share-talk/Share-Talk-Presents-A-Live-Q-A-Session-with-Red-Rock-Resources-Plc. Questions may be submitted either in advance or during the webcast.
Comments